Power-transmission mechanism.



E. A. HALBLEIB.

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5,1913.

1,165,966. Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

Figgoilo Ffigoio UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH EASTELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER,

YORK.

NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW POWER-TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

Application filed May 5, 1913. Serial No. 765,714.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Emvlxno A. HALBLEIB; a citizen of the United States,and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Transmission Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism or gearing which is adapted totransmit power from one to the other of two devices, such as an engineand an electric generator, so that either of said devices may actuatethe other, but at speed-ratios differing according as one or the otherdevice constitutes the source of power. Mechanism of this type isfrequently employed in connection with a system in which aninternal-combustionifengine and an electric generator are employed, theengine, during its normal operation, driving the generator to produceelectricity and charge a storage-battery, while the generator may beemployed, when necessary, as an electric motor to start the operation ofthe engine.

In my pending application for Letters Patent of the United States filedFebruary 4, 1913, Serial No. 747,185, I have disclosed mechanism of thetype in question, this mechanism including a shiftable clutchmemberwhich is moved to one position or another, according as the gearing istobe employed to transmit power from one to the other of the devicescooperating therewith, and the present invention relates particularly toimprovements in the mechanism shown in said application. In thatmechanism the shiftable clutch-member is provided with teeth adapted tocooperate with teeth upon a rotary element which constitutes the meanswhereby the gearing may be connected with an engine, and the clutchteethin question are beveled in order that they may have an automaticdisengaging action when the shiftable clutch-member tendsto overrun saidrotary element, in

order that it may be possible for the motorgenerator at all times tofreely overrun the engine. When the engine is running slowly, however,its speed of rotation fluctuates with each pulsation of the engine, withthe result that more or less back-lash and chattering may occur betweenthe beveled clutchteeth.

One object of the present invention is to Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

avoid this result, and to this end I introduce, in the present gearing,a roller-wedge clutch which is adapted to accommodate itself to suchslight inequalities in the driving-motion without noise or jar, andwhich permits the use of square or abrupt engaging-members or teeth, onthe shiftable clutch-member, which may be fitted closely so as to avoidany substantial play or backlashing when the clutch-members are inengagement.

In the gearing of my said application the arrangement of theclutch-members, and of the speed-reducing gears through which themotor-generator actuates the engine, is such that in case of a prematureexplosion or back-kick in the engine the gearing may operate to arrestthe forward movement of the armature of the motor-generator, and.

throw it into rapid rotation in the reverse direction. This actionsubjects the mechanism and the armature to a severe strain, and it hasthe further disadvantage of subjecting the clutch-mechanism to a severestrain in case the shifting clutch-member is shifted while the armatureis still rotating reversely.

Accordingly, another object of the invention is to protect the mechanismagainst the strains just described, and to this end I interpose, betweenthe generator-shaft and the rotary element of the gearing to which it isconnected, a friction-coupling or slip-device which connects the partswith suflicient force to secure them against relative rotation duringnormal operation of the apparatus, but

which will yield un der the unusual conditions arising in consequence ofa back-kick in the engine. In case of such a back-kick thisfriction-coupling operates, in the first place, to yield when themovement of the gearing is first reversed, so that the rotation of thearmature is not so suddenly arrested and reversed; and it has thefurther advantage that after the rotation of the armature has been soreversed, and the shiftable clutchmember is thrown into cooperation withthe engine-connected rotary element, the inertia of the armature in itsreverse rotation is ab sorbed principally by the slip-connection, so

as to relieve the clutch-mechanism from Fig. 2 is a vertical section onthe line 22 in Fig. 1, looking from right to left in the latter figure;Fig. 3 is a left-hand elevation of the shiftable clutch-member; and Fig.4 is a side-elevation of the combined frictioncoupling and Oldhamcoupling.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a power-transmissionmechanism which is similar, in general, to the mechanism or gearing ofmy said application. It comprises two coaxial shafts or rotary elements,which are hereinafter designated, for convenience, as the primary rotaryelement and the secondary rotary element. The primary rotary element, asshown in Fig. 1, is a shaft 5, which may be connected, in any convenientmanner, with the engine with which the mechanism is to be employed. Thisshaft is journaled in a casing 7, by means of ball-bearings 8. Thesecondary rotary element is a shaft 6, also mounted in the casingcoaXially with the shaft 5, the lefthand end of the shaft 6 having areduced portion 17 which is journaled in a central recess in the shaft5, while the shaft 6 is also supported, through an intermediateconcentric element hereinafter described, by a ballbearing 9 mounted inthe casing. A third rotary element, coaxial with the elements 5 and 6,is in the form of a shaft 10, which may be, and is illustrated as, thearmatureshaft of the motor-generator which cotiperates with thepower-transmission mechanism.

The speed-reducing gears, through which the motor-generator may actuatethe primary rotary element and the engine, comprise a pinion 11, whichis journaled loosely upon the shaft 6 and supported directly by theball-bearing 9, this pinion, in turn, serving as a bearing for thedirect support of the shaft 6, as shown in Fig. 1. The pinion 11 mesheswith a gear 12, which is journaled loosely upon a countershaft 13 fixedin the casing 7. Integral with the gear 12 is a second pinion 14, whichmeshes with a gear 15 concentric with the shaft 5, this gear beingsupported upon and connected with the shaft 5 by means of a roller-wedgeclutch, through which the gear may drive the shaft. The shaft 5 isprovided with an enlarged portion or shell 19 at its inner end, thisshell having recesses 26 with inclined surfaces with which rollers 27coiiperate. These roll-i ers engage a smooth internal clutch-surface 28on the gear 15, and they are controlled by spring-pressed plates 29,which tend to move them toward the shallowest arts of the recesses 26.The rollers are old in the recesses 26 by snap-rings 45, which areomitted from Fig. 2 for the sake of clearness. The arrangement of theseparts, as shown in Fig. 2, is such that when the motor-generator rotatesin its normal direction, and acts as an electric motor, the gears andthe clutchmembers are moved in the direction of the messes one hand, orthe direct connection between the shaft 6 and the shaft '5 on the otherhand, a 'shiftable clutch-member is employed, this member being slidablymounted upon a square portion 16 of the shaft 6. This clutch-member hasa transverse recess 24 which may cotiperate with corresponding teeth 25upon the left-hand end of the pinion 11, one of these teeth being shownin dotted lines in Fig. 1. When the engine is to be started theclutch-member 18 is shifted to the right, so as to engage the teeth 25,and the pinion 11 may then be rotated, as above described, by the shaft6. After the engine has been started, however, the clutch-member 18 ismoved to the left, to disengage the teeth 25, and in its left-handposition it cotiperates with clutchmembers through which the shaft 5 mayrotate the shaft 6 to drive the motor-generator. Upon the left-hand faceof the clutch-member 18' are clutch-teeth 23, shown in Fig. 3. Theseteeth are adapted to onage a transverse recess 22 (see Fig. 2) formed ina clutch-member 20, which is located within the enlargement or shell 19on the shaft 5. The clutch-member 20 constitutes an element of aroller-wedge clutch, being provided, as shown in Fig. 2, with a seriesof inclined recesses containing rollers 21. These rollers engage asmooth clutchsurface on the inside of the shell 19, and when the shaft 5and the shell 19 are rotated in the normal direction by the engine therollers act to grip the clutch-member 20 and cause it to rotate with theshaft 5. With the shiftable clutch-member 18 in the position shown inFig. 1 this rotation of the clutch-member causes the clutchmember 18 andthe shaft 6 to rotate in unison with the shaft 5, and the shaft 6, inturn, rotates the armature-shaft 10, through the slip-connectionhereinafter described, thus actuating th'e motor-generator and causingit to generate electricity. During this action of the power-transmissionmechanism, if the speed of the engine becomes very much reduced and itsrotation irregular, the momentary retardations in the speed of the shaft5 are absorbed by the automatic overrunning action of the clutchmember20, which is permitted by the frictional engagement of the rollers 21with the member 19; while )at each succeeding acceleration of the shaft5 these rollers take hold. without noise or lost motion, to drive theclutch-member and the other parts. Owing to this arrangement theclutch-teeth 23, and the recess 22 with which they cooperate, may bemade with abrupt or square engaging-surfaces, as shown in Fig. 1, sothat no back-lash or lost motion occurs between them. The teeth 23 may,however, be slightly beveled at their ends, as shown, to facilitatetheir engagement with the recess 22 when the clutch member 18 is shiftedas above described.

Any convenient means maybe employed for shifting the clutch-member 18,but I have illustrated means for this purpose similar to those disclosedin'my said application. The clutch-men'iber 18 is provided with anannular flange 30, which is embraced by the slotted end of an arm 31.This arm is fixed to a 'rod 32, which is guided to slide horizontally inthe casing and is forced in one direction by means of a spring 33 coiledaround the rod. The arm 31 and the rod are moved in the oppositedirection by means of an arm 43, which engages the hub of the arm 31 andswings about a vertical axis. The arm 43 is moved manually in anyconvenient manner. In my said application I illustrated an electricswitch and mechanism for actuating simultaneously this switch and thearm 43. A similar arrangement may be employed in the present case, and Ihave shown a casing 44 mounted on the top of the easing 7 and adapted tocontain the switch. Upon the top of the casing 44 is an arm 35 adaptedfor manual operation, and the connections between this arm and the arm43 are illustrated diagrammatically by' broken lines 34.

The slip-connection between the shafts 6 and 10 is shown in Figs. 1 and4. The shaft 6 has a squared portion 36 upon which is mounted a shell 37with a conical inner surface. A conical friction-member 38 cooperateswith the member 37, and is pressed constantly against it by means of aspring 39 coiled about the shaft 36. The lefthand end of this springengages a shoulder on the member 38, while its right-hand end is seatedagainst a collar 40 screwed upon the shaft 6. The slip-connection isshown as combined with an Oldham coupling to compensate for slightvariations in the axial positions of the shafts 6 and 10. To this end acoupling-member 42 is keyed upon the shaft 10, and an intermediate orfloating coupling-member 41 is interposed between the members 38 and 42,these three parts having the usual inter-engaging tongues and groovescharacteristic of an Oldham coupling.

During the normal operation of the mechanism the friction between theparts 37 and 38 is sufficient to prevent any relative rotation, and tocause the shaft 6 to drive the shaft 10 or vice versa. Upon any suddenand powerful reversal in the directlon of movement of the shaft 6,however, the slipconnection yields, the part 38 rotating within the part37, so that no severe strain can be imparted either to or from thegeneratorshaft 10. I

My invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbeforedescribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it may beembodied in variousother forms within the nature of the invention as itis defined in the following claims.

I claim 1. Power-transmission mechanism having, in combination, aprimary rotary element; a secondary rotary element coaxial therewith;gear-connections between said elements whereby the secondary element mayactuate the primary element at a reduced speed; and means for connectingsaid elements to permit the primary element to actuate the secondaryelement without change of speed, said means comprising a shiftableclutch having one member connected with one of the rotary elements; and

' an overrunning clutch connecting the other member of the shiftableclutch with the other rotary element.

2. Power-transmission mechanism having, in combination, anengine-connected rotary element; a generator-connected rotary element;means, for connecting said elements to permit the engine-connectedelement to drive the generator-connected element, including anoverrunning clutch to permit the generator-connected element to overrunthe engine-connected element; and means cooperating with a portion ofsaid first named means, for connecting the rotary elements independentlyof said overrunning clutch, to permit the generator-connected element todrive the engine-connected element.

3. Power-transmission mechanism having, in combination, anengine-connected rotary element; a generator-connected rotary element;means, including a manually-operable clutch, for connecting saidelements to permit the engine-connected element to drive thegenerator-connected element, said means including also an overrunningclutch to permit the generator-connected element to overrun theengine-connected element; and means, cooperating with saidmanuallyoperable clutch, for connecting said elements to permit thegenerator-connected element to drive the engine-connected element, saidmeans including also an overrunning clutch to permit theengine-connected element to overrun the generator-connected element.

4. Power-transmission mechanism having, in combination, three rotaryelements; gear ing and an overrunning clutch through which the secondaryrotary element may actuate the primary rotary element atreduced speed,While the overrunning clutch permits the primary rotary element tooverrun the gearing; a shiftable clutch operable to connect thesecondary rotary element alternatively with said gearing, for thepurpose aforesaid, or with the primary rotary element, independently ofthe gearing, to permit the primary rotary element to actuate thesecondary rotary element; and slip-connections between the secondaryrotary element and the third, rotary element, said connections beingyieldable to a force greater than that encountered in the normaloperation of the mechanism.

l 5. Power-transmission mechanism having, in combination, anengine-connected rotary element; a generator-connected rotary element;and means for connecting said elements to permit either to drive theother, said means including an overrunning clutch, through which theengine-connected element drives the generator-connected element butwhich permits the latter to overrun the former, and a manually operableclutch through which the generator-connected element may drive theengine-connected element. A

6. Power-transmission mechanism having, in combination, anengine-connected rotary element; a generator-connected rotary e1ement;and means for connecting said elements to permit either to drive theother, said means including an overrunning clutch through which theengine-connected element drivs the generator-connected element, butWhich permits the latter to overrun the former, a second overrunningclutch through which the engine-connected element may be driven by thegenerator-connected element but which permits the former to overrun thelatter, and manually operable clutch-members by Which theconnecting-means may be thrown into operation for the two describedfunctions alternatively.

FARNUM F. D. Grnnnnn.

Donsnr,

